Curran's a feisty character, will give you everything he's got: Root

Curran initially landed in Australia as Steven Finn's replacement. © Getty

Outskilled. That is how England captain Joe Root summed up England's Ashes loss to Australia this year. The visitors find themselves 0-3 down, and with nothing but pride to play for in the last two Tests, starting with the Boxing Day encounter at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday (December 26).

England showed streaks of good form over the first three Tests, but could never really dominate the Australians, who snatched the key moments and never let the momentum slip away when they were in charge. As a result, England slumped to their eighth straight Test loss Down Under, and handed over the Ashes urn back to Steven Smith's side.

In the first Test, England twice saw themselves in positions of control - they were 127/1 batting first before being bowled out for 302, and then reduced Australia to 76/4 before a Smith hundred helped Australia eke out a lead. In the Day-Night Test at Adelaide, with conditions prime for England's swing bowlers, a hundred from number 6 Shaun Marsh and cameos from Tim Paine and Pat Cummins, once again helped Australia overcome a strong England start. In Perth, hundreds from David Malan and Jonny Bairstow had given them a solid platform, but they once again threw away the advantage by losing their last six wickets for 35 runs.

It's a trend Root will be desperate for England to lose at the iconic MCG ground.

"This match is a big test of our character. But that's one of our strengths. That hasn't let us down in the first three games. We have been out-skilled and not good enough when it really mattered.

"That's our big challenge this week. We need those big scores that get you ahead of the game and into strong positions. And we need to create 20 chances and take them to win the Test match," Root said.

For the fourth Test, England will hand a debut to pacer Tom Curran, with Craig Overton ruled out with a rib injury. Overton has been England's silver lining on the tour with some solid performanes since his debut in Adelaide, but the injury has now added further misery to an already battered England.

Curran, a right arm fast bowler, plays for Surrey in the County Championship and was only added to the England squad as a last minute replacement for the injured Steven Finn.

"Tom offers a lot," Root said. "He's a real competitor. He does get the ball to move around a bit - he's skillful - and he's always in the contest. He has a similar work ethic to Overton. He's always wanting to get in the contest and you know that he will give you everything.

"He's a feisty character. One thing that really stands out to me is that at no point will he hide away from a challenge if it does become very hard he'll give it absolutely everything."

Root added that Mark Wood and Mason Crane were also considered for selection, but Curran got the nod.

"Sometimes as a captain you have to go with your gut and he (Curran) really hit home with me this week. It wasn't an easy decision. We certainly (spent) a while thinking about it, trying to weigh up what was the going to be the best way to go about it in these conditions and on this surface. For the balance of the team, I think Tom was the best option. He does get the ball to move around a little bit. He's always in the contest."

0-3 down and their backs to the walls, England would be keen to turn the tables around in Melbourne. They will hope Curran will be the panacea to their Ashes woes and acts as a balm to their aching wounds.